Django Reinhardt (born on January 23, 1910 as Jean-Baptiste Reinhardt) was a Belgian Romani Jazz guitarist, famous for his jaw-dropping virtuosity despite a debilitating burn injury on his left hand.

Born in a Romani village on the border of Belgium and France, Django showed a very early talent for music. He learned the banjo-guitar at the age of 13 by copying the fingering styles of other guitarists, and was quickly able to make a living off his talents.

When Django was 18, his left hand was severely damaged by a fire started in his caravan, causing him to lose much of his ability to move his ring and pinkie fingers. Never the less, he continued to play music on the guitar, adjusting his style in a way that prevented his handicap from limiting his abilities. Later on, he was introduced to Jazz music from the United States— particularly the recordings of trumpeter Louis Armstrong— and soon met a very talented Parisian violinist named Stéphane Grappelli who shared similar interests. Impressed with each other's talents after a jam session together, they formed an all string band called the Quintette du Hot Club de France, composed of Django and Stéphane as the lead players, and a rhythm section composed of two guitarists (one of which was Django's brother Joseph) and an acoustic bass played by Louis Vola. They became the biggest act of the French Jazz community, with records that reached audiences across the Atlantic.

The Quintette broke up during the Nazi occupation of France, with Grappelli fleeing to England while Django elected to remain in Paris. After the war, Django briefly reunited with Grappelli for another tour in the UK before heading to the United States for a tour with famed Jazz composer Duke Ellington in 1946. Django returned to France in 1949, spending the rest of his days in retirement. He died of a brain hemorrhage in Paris on May 16th, 1953.

Django is frequently cited as one of the greatest guitarists who ever lived. His playing— with speed, complexity, and phrasing that are already incredibly impressive by any standard— takes on an almost supernatural quality in light of his injury. He fretted mostly with the two undamaged fingers on his left hand, only utilizing his ring and pinkie fingers for chords. He's unanimously considered the greatest and most influential Jazz musician from outside of the United States, having popularized hot string Jazz and fathered the subgenre of Manouche Jazz.

Many, many, many of the best guitarists and jazz musicians in the world have been inspired by him in some way. Classic Jazz guitarists Charlie Parker and Wes Montgomery were both direct 'decendents' of his, and contemporary artists such as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Chet Atkins, B.B. King, Les Paul, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Jimmy Page have all gone on record stating their great admiration of his abilities.

Brilliant but Lazy: Django was infamous for not showing up to his own concerts, often over very trivial things like being caught up in an interesting conversation or so he could take a walk through the park.

Career-Ending Injury: Averted hard. Having his fretting hand severely damaged in a caravan fire did nothing to stop him from playing the guitar.

Cool Guitar: Django is most often associated with his oval-hole Selmer-Macaferi styled acoustic guitar, as shown in the page image. Only a thousand were originally produced, and are rare and valuable vintage instruments today.

Disability Superpower: His injury made chord playing difficult. To compensate, his music style focused on lightning fast arpeggios.

The Gambling Addict: By all accounts, Django loved to gamble on card games. He was also, by all accounts, really bad at it. He'd often blow all his money in a single night of play.

Never Learned to Read: Not only could Django not read or write in the typical sense, but he couldn't even read or write sheet music. Every piece of music he knew was learned solely by ear and played entirely by memory.

Odd Friendship: Django was an enigmatic, wild gypsy. His partner, French violinist Stéphane Grappelli, was the classically educated son of a French nobleman.

Too Cool To Kill: Django decided to remain in Paris as the Nazi's invaded. This could have very easily been a lethal mistake on his part, as he was 1) Romani, 2) handicapped, 3) openly playing a music style that was banned in Nazi Germany, and 4) a well known friend of blacks and Jews in the jazz community. Worse, he didn't even opt to lay low during the occupation: he stayed in full public view and continued to play jazz in big concert halls. But, in a colossal bit of irony, the Nazi's decided not to bother him because many of them were fans of his. Hell, some even asked to be photographed with him, including higher ranking Nazi's◊.

In 2010, the Belgian government released a sterling silver coin with his portrait on it, valued at 10 euros, in commemoration of his 100th birthday.

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